


Remembrance

by SapphyreLily



Series: Different Sun, Same Land [4]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mentions of Character Death, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: Sometimes, it’s easiest to share your hurt with a stranger. Especially one who understands what you mean.
Series: Different Sun, Same Land [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1001394
Kudos: 1





	Remembrance

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a [ conversation ](https://twitter.com/Crysfell696/status/1239715531491618822?s=20)I had with @Crysfell696 on Twitter :> It’s not _quite_ how that conversation went, but anyway...

Murasaki stood in the little garden behind the Firstborn’s statue, gazing up at his visage. The stars were a pretty background for his forward-looking face, the Mother Tree’s leaves dipping in and out of view.

She wrapped her hands around her elbows, fingers pressing into bark. Harder, until her fingers grew sore from the pressure, but not enough. Never enough. It was never enough, for her bark wasn’t hard enough to draw sap, not hard enough for her to injure herself.

It made her a little bit resentful, but also grateful. The Mother knew her tendencies towards self-harm, and though she would never pick up a knife and willingly draw sap, anything else was on the table.

The soft sounds of raking from behind her made a small smile rise to her lips. Mender Earie tended his garden beautifully, and though she had little skill with plants, it was always nice to sit near and listen to him work.

She let her mind wander, and soon noticed voices floating over. Her eyes darted back. A short sylvari with bright green bark spoke to the mender, his posture open and friendly. The leaves on his head were burgundy, his pulsing glow a bright blue. She didn’t think she’d seen him around before.

He looked a little like Caithe, though her mentor would never be that open or friendly. It made her curious, but not curious enough. She didn’t want to be seen, not at the moment.

Mender Earie called to her. “Murasaki. Come, speak to a brother.”

She pretended she couldn’t hear him and walked towards the statue, standing just under it. She really couldn’t bear to speak to anyone, not at the moment.

But footsteps approached anyway, and she felt a presence looming behind her. She didn’t want to look back, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the Firstborn’s feet.

_Don’t speak to me. Please._

“I miss him.”

Murasaki glanced at him then, surprise softening her animosity. That was not what she’d expected, but it was not…entirely unwelcome. “You knew Trahearne?”

He smiled, but it was a sad smile. The kind of sadness she knew, shaped by loss. “Who didn’t? He was a kind mentor, a loving man. A great leader.”

“He was, wasn’t he?” Murasaki said softly. She shifted to half-face him, surprised to find that he was nearly as short as she was. Not many sylvari were. “I wish I spent longer with him.”

“As do I.”

“Were you in the Pact?”

“I was.” He shook his head, leaves fluttering into his face. “I left, after the Maguuma campaign. I could not stay to keep it going, when the man who brought it all together was gone.”

“You don’t like Logan?” Murasaki teased.

(She caught herself. It surprised her, for she hated talking about this. It made her heart hurt.)

“Logan Thackeray will never live up to Trahearne.”

Murasaki chuckled. “I would not say that to his face, but you are right.”

The man grinned, offering a small bow. “I’m Eos.”

“Murasaki.” She smiled, not entirely falsely, but not completely truthfully. She glanced up at the statue, then back at Mender Earie, who was not watching them. Maybe it would be alright, to be indulgent for a few minutes. “Would you like to go up there? See the view as he does?”

Eos started, looking at her curiously. “Can we do that?”

“As long as you don’t tell Mender Earie.”

Murasaki winked at him and casually walked away, her hands twisting beneath her sleeves. A last glance at the mender showed him tending his plants, and she spun on her heel, disappearing as she focused on the ground where the statue stood above them.

She blinked at the new view, then spread her hands over the ground, locking her spell in place. A swirling pink portal appeared at her feet, and the moment Eos appeared through it, she let the spell fade, the portal dissipating.

He let out a low sigh as they looked over Caledon Path, at the travellers that came and went, at the Wardens standing sentinel. Then he looked up, at the visage of their beloved Firstborn and the way he extended an arm out to the Grove, resplendent yet reserved.

Eos' face crumpled, and he fell to his knees, sobbing softly. Murasaki slowly lowered herself to the ground near him, but just out of reach. She wondered distantly, what it was like to give in to your emotions, to be allowed such freedom of expression. To cry when you felt sad. To not have to hold it all in.

She tilted her head back, gazing upon Trahearne's smiling face. It made her eyes water, to see him so. To see the eagerness on his face, the life in his expression. The gentleness with which he beheld the world.

She missed that. She missed his surprised laughs and thoughtful guidance, his strategic mind and careful actions.

She missed being inspired by such a great man, and his untimely death had left her with a bigger hole in her heart than she dared to admit.

Murasaki took a slow, deep breath, wishing away the ugly frown that had pulled her lips down. She could not cry. She wouldn’t. Enough tears had been shed–

“Murasaki?” Eos’ voice pulled her gaze back to him. His voice was hoarse, and his face was wet. “Why don’t you cry?”

“I can’t.” Her fingers laced together under her sleeves, crushing each other. “I won’t cry. Trahearne deserves better than my tears. Because I couldn’t save him.”

“None of us could.” The words were a bolt to her heart, hitting harder because she knew they were true. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t cry.”

She shook her head. She barely knew Eos, and she didn’t want to cry in front of him. “Crying is my weakness. I don’t like it.”

“Then I’ll turn away,” he offered. His eyes bore into hers, bright and understanding. “We all deserve to cry.”

She smiled tightly as he did as he said, pondering on his words. She’d love to. But she hated people seeing. She really hated it.

Above her, Trahearne reached out, his smile comforting. Familiar.

Murasaki squeezed her eyes shut; let her smile wobble and her teeth grit together, a few tears leaking out. Her breath hitched and her inhales were shaky, her heart plummeting. Shattering.

 _I miss you. Trahearne, I_ miss you.

Her hands clutched at the grass, tearing some loose. She let them bite into her hand for a moment, then released them. Squeezing her eyes tightly, she blotted her eyes on her sleeve, breathing deeply through her mouth. Willing her emotions back under, behind a wall of calm.

“Sister, that’s hardly called crying.”

“You weren’t supposed to be looking.” Murasaki flicked her gaze over to Eos, who leaned against one of the statue's feet. Her heart was still heavy – even though she had only been vulnerable for a few seconds – and she did not have the energy to be angry.

He shrugged and smiled lightly. “I can still hear, even if I don’t look.”

She smiled at that, a small, tired smile. “Yes.”

She was so tired. She didn’t want to move, not when it meant others could come upon her in her distress, and she wouldn’t be able to pull a brave façade for them.

Maybe she could stay. Just for tonight. Just another few hours of vulnerability. What was a few more when one person had already seen her as such?

“Do you want to stay up here, brother? I can create a portal for you to go back if you don’t, but I don’t want to move for the night.”

Eos glanced up at her, his expression shaded with thoughtfulness, with pain. “I think… Perhaps I will stay the night, if you don’t mind sharing this space. I would shelter under Trahearne’s shadow. It feels as if he is still here.”

Murasaki nodded. She thought the same. “In the morning, then. Maybe in the morning, it’ll be better.

“We can keep remembering him here, tonight.”

**Author's Note:**

> Felli I’m so sorry if I didn’t write Eos the way you imagine him to be :( I need to know more about him! Like if he has a last name I should’ve put in the tags xD
> 
> I had to edit some timeline things, since Mura is technically Commander too, so I just pretended that no one is the commander here :’D


End file.
